The Pagosian king laughed. “Well, that’s just stupid. Who thinks they can hold your throne?”
“I’m sure it’s the same line-up as always. Someone close to me that I don’t suspect. Plus six greedy idiots they recruited.”
Ambrose made a sound of supreme disgust. “Morons! Peace isn’t a simple thing. Never has been. Never will be.” He clapped Dash on his arm. “Have no fear of us. Pagos will always back you.If you need soldiers, I will send them. We have some of the best, and I know they’d be willing to fight for you.”
“Thank you. I just need to find out if I still have an army.”
“Why would you doubt that?”
“We met a group of my veterans on the way here, and they were definitely not willing to fight for me.” Dash let out a tired sigh. “It occurs to me that I’ve asked a lot of ’corns to die and bleed for me. Perhaps I didn’t show as much gratitude as I should have.”
Ambrose winced. “That’s the hardest part of leadership. Too many focus so much on the goal that they forget the means and the cost. By the time they get what they want, they feel like they’ve earned it, or that they’re even owed it. They forget that they didn’t do it on their own. That there are many they relied on. Many they need to thank. And some they need to thank a lot. But I’ve never seen you forget those around you. It’s how you picked your advisors.”
Dash shook his head. “Maybe. But you didn’t see the hatred in those unicorns when they attacked us.”
“Was it something you actually did... or was it something someone fostered in them?”
“How so?” Dash asked.
Ambrose let out a long sigh. “Hatred grows one of two ways. It’s something you do that is either deserved or not, or a well-planted lie that’s cultivated by an enemy known or unknown.”
Tanis frowned as she considered his words. “What do you mean deserved or not?”
Ambrose passed a sad look to her. “Sometimes our actions or intentions cause us to be hated for a reason that is justified.” He glanced to Dash. “Such as cutting the head off an enemy who might have family members that take issue with such actions. Or chopping down certain trees.”
Tanis understood that.
He turned back toward her. “Other times, our actions are misconstrued by others. If it’s by accident, we can rectify it by explaining to another that we didn’t mean to cause them harm or that we didn’t intend malice. In those cases, all can be forgiven.”
Ambrose’s tone turned dark. “But then there are times when others are seeking any justification to hate us for reasons only they know. They crave that hatred. They want that hatred, and they will twist and manipulate anything we say or do as a reason to justify it. It’s sad but true. It’s nothing we do, just something they want, and they will feed their hatred, regardless of how much we try to heal it. No amount of apology will ever be enough to cure it. And nothing will appease them. They are after the life of the ones they feel did them wrong or the ones they hate for jealous reasons, and until the ones they hate are all dead, they will not rest or be placated. You cannot bargain with them. They are beyond all compassion and rational thought.”
That she understood. “Like me with my brother’s killer. I will never forgive them for what they took.”
“Exactly, my lady. Except you have a concrete, justifiable reason for wanting that killer dead. He did you and your family wrong, personally. It’s not imaginary and it left a scar in your heart that will never heal.” Ambrose turned to Dash. “You, on the other hand... well, it’s you. You might have actually done something wrong to the one who hates you.”
“Thanks.”
Ambrose chuckled. “But it’s just as likely that you are the High King. You have what your enemy covets and cannot have so long as you live. Jealousy is a wicked, terrible thing. It is the root of all evil. The best way to take what they want is to knock down the one who holds it. If they don’t have the skills to achieve their goal on their own, then they spread lies about the one who holds it. Turn others against them and build a jealous, hate-filled army to topple them. Who cares about the truth? Words are far morepowerful than spears and travel twice as far, twice as fast. Many times, they’re even deadlier. Words are sharpened weapons, and they can and do kill. Either by suicide from the one who cannot endure them, or from murder by one who is influenced having heard them. Wordfare can be far more destructive than warfare and have even longerlasting consequences.”
Tanis was awed by Ambrose. No wonder Dash listened to him. He was extremely wise.
Dash snorted at Ambrose. “They’ll have a hard time toppling me. I didn’t get to the top simply by killing my father... which wasn’t as easy as it sounds. Bastard did fight back, and I had ten armies trying to lay me low and enemies clawing at my back and going for my throat every single step of the way. It took me years to get to where I am. And while they might think I’m down for the moment, never, ever underestimate someone who learned to fight in the streets. We don’t go down without a vicious body count.”
“True,” Ambrose agreed. “But while you were busy running your kingdom, Lord Dash, you weren’t paying attention to the ones you trusted. Those standing at your back, or at your side. One of them was spreading lies and betraying your trust. Who among your advisors feels that he or she is the most capable to take your place? The one who feels you should be most indebted to them?”
He scowled as he considered it. “I don’t know. Kronnel leads my army. Yasha oversees the workers. Serran and Anyana manage the nobles. Dersha handles the navy. Renata was the one I leaned on the most, and sadly, I know it’s not her.”
“What of Ryper?” Ambrose asked.
He shook his head. “Ryper is an entity unto himself.”
“But an advisor, nonetheless.”
And one who didn’t hesitate to kill at his command. “I trust him implicitly. If he wanted a throne, he could have one fromanother kingdom. Yet he chooses to stay with me.” Dash couldn’t imagine his advisors daring to turn on him, especially given the fact that Ryper would cut their throats just on principle. It was why he’d put them in their positions. Anytime anyone had shown the least bit of disloyalty, he’d booted them.
More to the point, Ryper had gutted them, which tended to cut down on mutiny.
One hint. One whisper.
